Penguin Pajamas
by Zorua Illusion
Summary: Sandy meets a young girl. This wouldn't be so weird except for the fact that she had built a hidey hole on her rooftop. Homosexuality between two OCs. Oneshot.


Sandy will admit that it's not very weird for him to see children on rooftops while he's giving dreams to them. Usually, they have a parent or other guardian with them, or another child their age, or (rarely) are they by themselves. It's seldom they'll see him- he works late at night and prefers to be above the clouds- but when they do, they always wave or greet him according to that country's custom.

Sandy will also admit that he has favorites- favorite dreams, favorite reactions, and occasionally a favorite person to give good dreams to. (It's not very often this happens, as being immortal means you outlive most of your friends, which is why the immortals remained secluded, other than the fact that if they weren't believed in they couldn't be heard nor seen and had the chance of being walked through. That _hurt_, more mentally than physically.)

Sandy will admit to the fact that it's not so different for him to see a young girl sitting on a rooftop. He will, however, believe it to be weird that a hidey hole had been built on the rooftop, and even weirder that she was six or seven years old in penguin footie pajamas.

So he swooped down on his golden dream cloud, catching the young one off guard.

"Oh. Hello," she began in a polite voice, "who are you?"

Sandy used images to convey his reply.

"The Sandman?" She tilted her head slightly to the right as she said this, as most people are prone to doing while questioning something. Sandy nodded before conjuring an image of a finger pointing at her, then a question mark.

"My name?"

Once again, Sandy nodded.

"Estella. Nice to meet you, Mr. Sandman." She stuck out her hand, which Sandy shook. Another question mark appeared above his head.

"What am I doing up on the roof?"

A thumbs up this time.

"Mommy and daddy are fighting again. I sleep in the attic, but I can still here the yelling. But the stars and the moon, they're so bright, and so quiet, it makes me think that it'll get better."

Estella looked up reverentially at the glowing celestial bodies. Sandy looked with her for a little bit before "saying" he had to leave.

"Come back soon, Mr. Sandman."

And Sandy sailed off on his golden cloud, giving out dreams to children across the world, while Estella slipped into the attic through the pane of the skylight just low enough for the bed and dresser to act like stairs.

That was the first time they met, and it certainly wasn't the last.

About two months had passed before Sandy stopped by Estella's again. He had a little extra time on his hands, and he had remembered the child (he never forgets them), so he swung by the roof top hidey hole again. There was Estella in her penguin footie pajamas. This time though, she had tears running down her face.

Sandy hated to see children crying. Children did not have good dreams after they had cried, and Sandy spent a lot of time trying to make sure they would have one. So he zoomed over to Estella on his cloud.

"Oh. Hey Mr. Sandman," she managed to choke out. She also made a shaky, watery smile.

Sandy smiled back and made another question mark above his head, along with a frowny face with tears coming out of its eyes.

"Mommy and daddy had another big fight and now they're getting a div… div…they're going apart," Estella sniffled. "I have to stay with mommy for awhile, then I visit daddy. But mommy won't live here." Tears gathered in the young one's brown eyes.

"Will I still see you, Mr. Sandman?"

And Sandy felt his heart snap.

Sandy took his pinkie finger and wrapped it around hers, a silent promise.

Estella grinned, the tears having gone away.

"Thank you, Mr. Sandman."

And if Sandy was honest, this is when it all started.

The Star and the Sand.

Estella ended up on the opposite side of town. She still slept up in the attic, and she still used the roof as a get away, but she did not have the large box on the roof that she had told Sandy during one of his visits that she wanted to rebuild.

Sandy asked about this when she was ten years old, almost three years after he had met the female. During that time, Sandy had shown her how he gave dreams to children and played with her on nights she couldn't sleep and then gave her a dream about narwhales and snow days. He was actually debating whether or not to bring Jack to her so they could all have a snow day. In return, Estella had shared what she learned about at school and about the kids she had heard about. Heard about, not hung out with, for Estella had gotten annoyed with most of her classmates during a group project, where she did all f the work and gotten very little credit. After that, she worked alone, but would help others if they asked nicely. Anyway, back to the question Sandy asked.

"It was a project my dad and I did together. My mom was afraid of me going out on the roof every night. 'Jack Frost is going to freeze her! She can't go up there!'" Estella rolled her eyes. "Though, from what you tell me, the most evil thing he's likely to do to me is pelt me with an iceball."

Sandy tilted his head and made a face in agreement. Jack wasn't the one who went around freezing people to death. He brought the fun part of winter- the other winter elementals did the rest. Although, there were a few accidents around the Revolutionary War and the World Wars, but Jack was very emotional during those times, watching as children were murdered. He lost control sometimes, causing great blizzards and hail storms. He was an unnoticed ally for the allies, but enough about that.

"Mom is very controlling. I'm not sure if it's for my safety or what."

Sandy pondered this and then made a picture of an ear with words going in it and staying there.

"You'd better listen," is what the images said.

"Yeah. I will. Thank you, Mr. Sandman." Estella grinned and slipped back into her room, still in penguin footie pajamas. While not the ones he had originally met her in, her mother had found another, larger pair in a store and bought them, knowing how much her daughter loved them.

And, Sandy thought, should they not be able to find another pair after she had outgrown this one, he could always ask North…

It was seven years after Sandy had met Estella when it happened.

Estella had gone away.

She had not run away- she left a note for her mother, stating that she would return, but that she would probably leave soon afterwards. She had also left a note for Sandy with a little penguin drawn on it.

You see, in the seven years Sandy and Estella had known each other, they had developed a system. If Estella was wearing her penguin footie pajamas, it meant she needed to talk about something. If she wore regular pajamas, it meant she just wanted to talk, and that she wasn't debating life.

The note meant she really needed to talk, but would not be in her pajamas.

The reason why Estella left was simple. Estella was a lesbian, and her mother did not approve. Sandy had known about Estella's sexual orientation and had encouraged her to tell her mother about it.

When he read that they had a huge fight about it, ending with Estella telling her mother hat she was going to live with her supportive father, he felt the guilt well up in his chest.

_I know what you're thinking Mr. Sandman_, Estella had written,_ but don't you __dare__ blame yourself for this. It is my mother's beliefs at fault, not your encouragement._

_I want to talk to you, Mr. Sandman. I'll be at the woods where we and the other Guardians had a snow day._

And Sandy took off, remembering the happier days.

Estella moved back in with her father and refused to look or speak to her mother. When Sandy asked why, Estella looked him dead in the eye, even with her dark brown, nearly black tresses hanging in her face.

"I once read that silence is the loudest scream."

And that was that.

Sandy found that as long as he steered clear of the topic of her mother, Estella was a pretty happy child. Well, teenager now. Sandy was used to the fact that his mortal friends would grow up while he stayed the same, but that did change the fact that it was still shocking to expect to see a seven year old and find a fifteen year old.

Sandy was almost shocked she still believed, but their odd conversation schedule had kept her in faith.

"You're more fact than faith to me now, Mr. Sandman, but I still believe in you."

And like the Grinch, Sandy felt his heart grow at the words.

And speaking of hearts, Estella had, apparently, found a girlfriend. Sandy congratulated her and then asked her who the lucky person was.

Estella gave a friendly shove to his shoulder before telling him about Jarah.

It was only about six months later that Estella had her first break up.

Apparently, Jarah had found out that Estella still believed in the Tooth Fairy, Sandman, Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, and everyone else, and had accused her of being childish.

They ended up getting into a large fight and breaking up, and Jarah spreading rumors about Estella. Sandy was not happy that Jarah had ruin Estella's happiness, and he was just plain ticked when he heard about the rumors.

Let's just say that Jarah had a visit from Pitch that night. (Because Pitch doesn't _cause_ nightmares, he just makes sure that people learn from them. He's not inherently evil, but going for so long, not being heard nor seen nor touched can drive even the most patient being mad.)

Estella was 24 when another huge event happened.

Her marriage.

She had found another girlfriend in college, where she was studying to be an artist. She had seen the girl in the same class and became friends with her. Eventually, they outed to each other and started dating, leading up to right now. Estella's girlfriend/fiancé, Sabah, accepted Estella's belief in the mythological beings, and had, in fact, been able to see them after Estella told her to believe.

January 23rd, nearby the town where Estella grew up in a church with skylights is where the two got married. All the Guardians we in attendance, sitting the disguised chairs set aside for them. (Except Jack, who stayed perched on his staff, and Sandy, who elected to stay on his dream cloud.) They gave their gifts at other times, preventing mysterious presents appearing n the table, for most of the two females' families were in attendance.

During the ceremony, Sandy wiped his eyes with a tissue. He felt like he had watched his daughter go down the aisle. He had, in fact, escorted her, as Estella's father had been out with an illness, but Estella had promised him that he would walk her down the aisle. She had asked Sandy if he would do it, to which he agreed readily.

He had never felt happier.

All good things must come to an end, however, as Estella and Sabah grew up.

Estella became a very good painter, often painting the universe that she had so admired way back when, but also having some featuring Sandman and the other Guardians. Her works became famous worldwide, but she never left her original house- the house with the skylight and the hidey hole on the roof.

Sabah became an astronomer, often providing details for Estella's paintings and discovering a new star late one night after talking with Sandy. She lived with Estella.

Estella's parent had died when she had been 25. It was hard on her. Her mother had died from illness, and her father had died from an overdose on medicine. Sandy and Sabah were there to comfort her, and Jack came by with three days worth of snow day fun, for which Sandy would be eternally grateful.

Eventually though, Estella had t depart from this land, as did Sabah.

But Man in the Moon had other plans.

He and the Sandman were old friends, dating back thousands of years. He had seen how these people made Sandy happy, and vice versa. And it wasn't just that triangle- the two women went out of their way to make sure everyone was happy, especially the children.

So Man in the Moon did his job- he brought the women back to life as the Spirit of Inspiration (Estella) and the Spirit of Discovery (Sabah).

And for that, Sandy was forever thankful towards the moon, as were the rest of the Guardians and Estella and Sabah.

And you want to know what the official symbol of Estella was?

Penguin footie pajamas.

For although all good things must come to an end, no one ever said that the ending has to be sad.

**A/N: I know, I know, I should be working on other things tight now, but I watched Rise of the Guardians over vacation and I could not get this out of my head. I also wanted to write a gay character, since all of my OCs are straight (but not narrow). So, there we have it! Sandman has another friend.**

**So, um, yeah. FiLiAL should be updated soon, and finishing the Boiling Rock arc, I'll start nailing AKA. This might not happen for awhile, though. Science fair is time consuming.**


End file.
